Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image testing technology.
Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, when an image is printed, in order to acquire an appropriate print result, an operator performs an image test (see Japanese Patent No. 3490545). The image test is displaying a test target image on a monitor and operator's checking whether a density, color balance, and the like of the image are appropriate for print through a visual observation. For an image having no appropriate density and no appropriate color balance, the operator corrects the image so as to have an appropriate density and appropriate color balance while checking a displayed image through a visual observation.
The adjustment of the density and the color balance is performed by adjusting the value of one of CMYD (cyan, magenta, yellow, and density) which are setting values that can be adjusted by an operator on a test screen. For example, an operation of having the value of C (cyan) “+1” or “−1” from a current setting is performed by an operator. Hereinafter, in this series of test operations, the values of CMYD that are adjusted on the test screen so as to be set by the operator for an image will be referred to as “UI correction values”. An image processing unit correcting an image performs image processing based on values called “system correction values” instead of performing the image processing by directly using the UI correction values. The “UI correction values” are elements used for determining the “system correction values”.
The system correction values are determined using the following Equation (1).System correction value=UI correction value×Step value+Master balance adjustment value  (1)
Here, the step value is a change amount of an actual color correction value corresponding to a case where “1” is set as the UI correction value. The description of the system correction value will be supplemented with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates a case where a value of ±15 can be set as an UI correction value. In a case where the UI correction value is added by “+1”, a value corresponding to a step value becomes a correction amount. In a case where the step value is increased, the correction amount is increased. The master balance adjustment value, as illustrated in FIG. 1, designates a base point of a correctable range.
While the UI correction value is set by the operator for each test target image, the step value and the master balance adjustment value are set in advance in a system that performs the test. Hereinafter, the step value and the master balance adjustment value will be referred to as “color environment settings”. An actual correction value (system correction value) is determined based on the UI correction value adjusted by the operator on a test screen in this way and the color environment settings that are specifically set in the system.
In such a test system, image data to be printed is included in order data input from a customer. The test operation described above is performed for such an image. Here, there are use cases where order data that has already been tests is desired to be tested again (hereinafter, referred to as a “retest”). At the time of performing a retest, an image that has been tested in the previous time is reproduced on the monitor, and an adjustment is performed again.
However, when a color environment setting that is a setting specific to the system is changed, in a case where order data that has been tested before the change in the color environment setting is retested, the same color tone as that of the order data that has been previously tested may not be reproduced. The reason for this is that, even in a case where the UI correction value is the same at the time of a first test and at the time of a retest, from the relation represented in Equation (1), when the color environment settings are changed, as described above, the actual correction value (system correction value) is changed. Accordingly, in a case where the retest is performed, the color environment settings at the time of the previous test need to be reflected.